mig welder

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Looking for a mig welder nothing fancy or expensive just one that i use on bodywork in my case the sills. i have never welded so i just want something i can teach myself on, as suggested by Frenchfarmer buy a welder get a book and learn from what i have read online a Min of 25 amps. then i can go attack some sheet metal out my in my garage create a sculptor of greatness sell it make a fortune live happly ever after oh sorry carried away you get the idea practice some welds and sort my fronty. I have a budget of up to £100 cash so any body sees one in the glasgow area knows of one or any other advice would apprecaite

thanks

[Road Hog]

How about THIS

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i read that to do body repairs a range of 60 amps plus is to high it would blow hole in the metal

[subsonicnat]

Nice one A friend;
But the higher ones he stocks are better, learn on body sheet first, he does some nice big ones 150 AMP plus. found mine on car boot, (180amp) paid £50:00 but didn`t work.. (It does now) .
My lad put an EXTRA plug in the Garage it can pull a FULL 16 aMPs from the fuse box, now I have real Power: ..
It also has a TIMER, which I think would be really handy for a (L)..
Seriously go bigger you can always turn it down, As for safety well,, I have set my hair on fire, and a cover over my chest working upside down, the misses could smell my hair in the house after I rushed in to see how much damage had been done.
And set some old rags alight under the bench, that was really frightening,as I couldn`t get at it at first, So go safely my friend and listen to horror stories on here, but you do have to (L) your own technique, Speeds etc, Good luck and DON`T give up easily..
One more thing do NOT forget to take leads off the Alternator, you will blow it, (Diodes) then more problems.
Colin:Norfolk.
PS: Gregster<<<<: Saw the Helmets you mentioned at £30:00 on boot sunday. (Brand New).I Do have one BRILLIANT:.

[gregster]

hiya mate...
with reference to mig power, I would suggest getting a larger unit every time.

A smaller mig will be of limited use and will not weld well....a larger mig will weld nicer and be far more controlled and can be turned down to do lighter jobs...
I have a 185amp murex tradesmig, running 1.6mm or 1.8mm and Argoshield gas, that I weld everything from thin rusty bodywork up to 6mm thick steel...
Being larger its duty cycle is better so will run pretty much forever on lower settings, wheras small migs will only run for a few minutes at a time if you try to do anything heavier with it..
I also have a snap-on 150a mig, much smaller in size....but the bigger mig still welds thin stuff nicer...this mig i have now converted for alluminium welding with alley wire and pure argon.

I think it is the same old theory that it is much more controlled banging a nail in gently with a big hammer, than swinging wildly at it with a small one!!

My recommendation would be to buy a mig between 100a and 150a which will be light enough to move around without a back injury, will be able to weld most things that you need it to and will give a lovely nice controlled weld on your thinner bodywork...

More important is to turn down the current on it when welding thin steel and trying not to get too much heat into the workpiece...changing to a thinner wire can also help...
I would practise off the car first as welding upside down is a bit more tricky,
invest in a decent auto tint welding mask from the outset...I paid £200 for my mask a good few years back and its brill ( a small price to pay for the sake of your eyes), but they are now available for £50ish or less, and it will much easier learning to weld without having to keep flipping a manual mask up and down all the time...

Also if you are going to be welding outside, you might do better using flux coated mig wire than a gas bottle, as outdoors the wind tends to blow the gas away from your weld, wheras the flux coated still gets it in where it is needed...

Last thing you must buy before welding you sills is a FIRE EXTINGUISHER...and its a good idea to have someone else there who can keep an eye out for you to ensure nothing is on fire (you wont see it while you are welding and when you stop it could be too late!!)

Hope this helps you matey

Gregster

[Krusher]

Sound advice there!!

[Road Hog]

I wholly concur with Gregsters post,I have 180 amp in the garage but have access to larger The linked item was based purely on the budgeted price mentined in the original post

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Yeah i would practice on the metal first before i even went near the motor i not excatly the most accident free person so far this year i have fallen into the loft bruising my ribs, bashed my head on the boot catch of a ford escort and stuck a pilot drill into my arm while sitting down looking for said drill piece. My wife says i can have any mig welder i want as long as Fisher Price makes it or it can be bought in Toys r us. The link was useful and was about to get a bid then.... the bigger amp was recommend so is it that one or the Fan Cooled MIG Welder 150amp MAG-150R *No Reserve

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Oh i forgot yes thanks to all for the help and advice has been useful

[Road Hog]

Fan cooled is always good & more Amps is as well,the more you have the faster the work rate With the 150 & some practice you will have a tool capable of doing roof racks.rock sliders,etc

[yaki]

Good post by Gregster (again )

The point about the quality of the welder is spot on, first welder I ever had (20yrs ago now) was a second hand Murex TradeMig, only 130A, big transformer and not fan cooled but it was a very nice piece of kit, nice stable arc, good duty cycle and the wire feed was excellent. Unfortunately some not nice broke in to my garage and stole it and at the time didn't have the funds to buy another one of that quality.

Currently use a 130A Sealy Mig, had it for about 10 years and it does ok but defo not as good as the Murex

[jontera]

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well im bidding on the Fan Cooled MIG Welder 150amp MAG-150R so far the highest

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the rockford got a bad after market review lack of spares etc. and read up on welders and got mixed opion on welders god its like the landrover frontera arguement

i f

[Frenchfarmer]

I've always found that if you have one, and only one, glass of red wine before welding it all goes much smoother. Looks a bit more like the pigeon has the runs rather than my usual lumpy stuff I do if I have to weld during the day.
Before you all start:- No I don't get the shakes or see pink hefalumps.

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[Frenchfarmer]

I don't mean drinking like this...........

http://forum.ebaumnation.com/showthread.php?p=610098

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very good

[Drift]

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lost the bid on that one. try again on a another 22hrs to go